Firefighters rescue meal time

Wednesday

Jan 28, 2009 at 12:01 AMJan 28, 2009 at 6:54 PM

Nearly every day at 5 p.m. the alarm is sounded, and firefighters at Central House come running. Unlike a call to a fire, this alarm: "Let's eat. Dinner is ready," doesn't take them farther than their own kitchen.

Erinn Deshinsky

Nearly every day at 5 p.m. the alarm is sounded, and firefighters at Central House come running.

Unlike a call to a fire, this alarm: "Let's eat. Dinner is ready," doesn't take them farther than their own kitchen.

"It's a myth that we get all of this stuff paid for," said Battalion Chief Mike Ogburn, as he readied to eat recently with the third shift at the station. "We pay for all our own food."

Not only do they pay for it, they cook meals every day.

The city outfitted the station with a refrigerator, industrial stove and some essentials, such as plates, large cups, massive pots and the like. As far as food, though, it comes out of the employees' pockets.

"Tea, coffee, salt, pepper - we buy," Ogburn said.

Those items - including two extra refrigerators, 50-pound sacks of potatoes and onions and giant bags of flour and tubs of oil - are paid for by a fund to which all firefighters chip in money. Also, those working pitch in to pay for the ingredients used to make that day's meals - picked up each day by the designated cooks.

Like a frugal household, they seek out deals and sales. They also buy in bulk, making large pitchers of flavored drinks and using paper towels as napkins.

"It's like a house," Ogburn said. "We hunt around for bargains."

Precise preparation

The men plan their trips precisely, mapping out a plan of attack in their heads before getting to the store.

They like to keep the trips short, mostly because they could be interrupted at any time. Which is why on a recent Thursday, Rescue 1 arrived at a Kroger in the most conspicuous ride in the lot: a large, red fire engine.

"We always have to go to shops in our territory," said Fire Capt. Kent Seiler, explaining calls for their rescue engine can stop any other job they're doing, such as shopping. "It happens from time to time. Even if in the middle of shopping, we just have to leave the stuff and take off."

That means in the middle of an aisle or at the checkout line, the food has to be sacrificed for the call. Same goes for preparing the food - or eating it.

Seiler, the lead cook for the three-man rescue squad that day, rushed around the aisles, listing off ingredients: three packs of mushrooms, three loaves of french bread, four pounds of fettuccine, two large heads of lettuce.

On the menu: tacos for lunch and a fettuccine concoction with garlic cream sauce. Wing men Dan Thornton and Mike Ralston, pushed the cart trying to scout out the harder to find items: radishes, garlic or bouillon cubes.

"You making chicken Parmesan?" Ralston asked Seiler, as he grabbed a large container of cream.

"No. I don't know," Seiler replied. "I'm making it up."

This day, they were able to make it out of the store in about 10 minutes with no interruptions for calls.

"The hardest part is getting it cooked," Seiler said. "And sometimes the calls don't come till you're just sitting down to eat."

As if he asked for it, the men end up getting two rescue calls as they prepared dinner that day, setting the schedule back a half hour.

Cooking for 10

Seiler, who grew up having to cook for his family, said preparing dinner for Central House is worlds different than fixing up a meal for the family.

"It takes a lot longer cooking for 10 than two to four," Seiler said.

Most of the firefighters enjoy the time-honored tradition of cooking for the house, which usually means making a meal for about 10 men on duty. Thornton said he often visits the kitchen when it's not his turn to cook, just to learn some tips.

"I like cooking more than I'm good at cooking," admitted Thornton, who is still living down an unfortunate incident with some green hashbrowns. "I'm learning. It's another thing to get good at."

Added Seiler: "It's always a big group effort. It's a good time for everyone to get together."

Very few firehouses, Seiler said, don't eat together. The shifts are long - 24 hours - so firefighters don't have the luxury of lunch breaks or dinner at home with the family.

Sometimes this can be a problem, veteran firefighters say, as rookie firefighters tend to be green in the kitchen as well.

"Young guys don't know how to cook much, so you're eating the same couple of things," Seiler said.

Tough critics

Seiler, who has a good reputation in the Central House kitchen, says no one is immune to ribs, and he doesn't mean the tasty meat.

"Everybody's a critic. No matter how good it is, they give you a hard time about it," Seiler said.

Ogburn said his shift - third shift - has been fortunate in that it has very few bad cooks. However, he still added with a smile, "It's not who you want to cook, it's who you don't want to cook."

Several firefighters credited 12-year veteran firefighter Frank Smith as one of the department's best cooks. Mike Hughes also got high marks. Memorable meals include venison egg rolls or goose spring rolls. Crab pasta was a unique favorite.

The mood in the kitchen usually stays jovial. It's a big family. They tease, but they mean well.

Seniority rules while doling out the dishes, and the younger firefighters are also tasked with starting the cleanup.

However, like working as a team out at a fire scene, everyone pitches in. Those who don't cook, clean up. And the efficiency is amazing.

Within 20 minutes, everyone is well fed and the kitchen is spotless. And through it all, spirits are high.

"It's a time to come together for camaraderie," Ogburn said. "It's one of the only times we're all together. So that's what we try to do - get together and enjoy laughs."